Wang Jianbo, Wynshaw-Boris Anthony
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., MC 0627, La Jolla, California 92093-0627, USA.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2004 Oct;14(5):533-9. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2004.07.013.
The Wnt signaling pathway plays essential roles in embryogenesis of higher eukaryotes from diploblastic, radially symmetrical cnidarians to mice and humans. Whereas studies in model organisms such as Drosophila and Xenopus continue to elucidate how the Wnt pathway is regulated, studies of mouse mutants and cultured mammalian cells start to reveal how the Wnt pathway controls development and differentiation in mammals. Here we review some of the recent progresses in our understanding of the Wnt pathway. We focus on how this pathway, through regulating transcription of its downstream target genes, specifies pattern formation during mammalian embryogenesis and functions in the differentiation and maintenance of stem cells both in vivo and in vitro.
Wnt信号通路在从双胚层、辐射对称的刺胞动物到小鼠和人类等高等真核生物的胚胎发育过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。尽管在果蝇和非洲爪蟾等模式生物中的研究不断阐明Wnt信号通路是如何被调控的，但对小鼠突变体和培养的哺乳动物细胞的研究开始揭示Wnt信号通路如何控制哺乳动物的发育和分化。在此，我们综述了近期在理解Wnt信号通路方面取得的一些进展。我们重点关注该信号通路如何通过调控其下游靶基因的转录，在哺乳动物胚胎发育过程中指定模式形成，以及在体内和体外干细胞的分化与维持中发挥作用。
